If you love the look of wooden beams, it's easy to assume that using real timber is the only way to get it. It isn't, and there are actually quite a few options.
We get asked about this a lot, especially when people see our beams for the first time and realise they're not actually made from wood.
You can use reclaimed timber, hollow timber box beams, ready-made faux beams, or have beams individually created for the space. They're all quite different, and there are good reasons for choosing each one.
So here's a simple look at the options, including how we make ours and why we chose to do things a little differently.
Real or reclaimed timber
If you want real wood and it works for the property, real timber is an obvious choice.
Old reclaimed beams can be beautiful. The grain, knots, splits and marks are real because they've developed naturally over time.
The practical side needs some thought. You need to find timber in the right dimensions, consider the weight, get it into the property and work out how it will be fitted. Timber also naturally expands and contracts as temperature and moisture levels change. Where it meets a plastered wall or ceiling, that movement can sometimes show as a small crack or separation along the edge.
None of that makes timber a bad choice. It's simply part of working with a natural material and worth knowing before deciding what's right for the room.
Timber box beams
A timber box beam is hollow rather than being made from one large solid piece of wood.
Sections of timber are joined together to form the beam, so you still have real wood on the outside. They can be made to particular dimensions, which gives you more flexibility than trying to find a solid piece of timber that happens to be the right size.
If having genuine wood is important to you, they're definitely worth considering.
As with solid timber, they're still a natural wood product, so movement with changes in temperature and moisture is something to take into account.
Ready-made faux wood beams
This is probably what you'll come across most often if you start searching online for faux or fake wooden beams.
They're usually hollow and lightweight, and many are made from polyurethane or similar materials. The wood texture is generally created using moulds, and you choose from the sizes, profiles and finishes available.
For plenty of rooms, that's a perfectly practical solution.
The main difference is that you're working with a product that's already been designed. The size, shape and timber texture are predetermined.
If several of the same beams are used together, you may also notice the same grain, knots or marks repeating.
Whether that matters really comes down to the look you're after.
Individually sculpted faux beams
This is where our way of making beams is different.
At Ibiza Beams, we create each beam onsite for the room it's going into.
Once the structure has been formed, we apply a specialist plaster-based material. The surface is then worked by hand to create the timber detail.
We don't use moulds for the grain. Knots, splits, old joints, worn areas and small imperfections are sculpted individually, so one beam naturally develops differently from the next.
After the sculpting comes the colouring and ageing. We build the colour up by hand rather than applying one standard wood finish.
If there's already original timber in the property, we can use that as our reference and create the new work to sit naturally alongside it.
Why choose a hand-sculpted beam?
One of the advantages of creating the beams this way is that we're not limited by the timber we can find or by a mould that's already been made.
The size and proportions can be designed for the room, while the grain, knots, splits, colour and ageing can all be created individually.
There are practical benefits too.
Real wood naturally moves as temperature and moisture levels change. Our beams don't move seasonally in the same way, which helps us achieve a cleaner transition where the beam meets a wall or ceiling, without the seasonal movement that can sometimes lead to separation or cracking around timber.
We can also keep much more control over the finished size of the beam. This can make a real difference when we're working around an existing RSJ or concrete beam. A hollow timber or ready-made beam cover needs enough space to fit around what's already there, which can add quite a lot to the overall dimensions. Because we create ours directly around the existing structure, we can keep the proportions much closer to what the room actually needs rather than making the beam unnecessarily bulky.
It also gives us a lot of freedom creatively.
We can work alongside existing timber, create something quite subtle, make a beam look heavily aged, or design the whole arrangement around the proportions and style of the room.
Sometimes we're working around an RSJ, a concrete beam or an unusual ceiling. Other times there's nothing to cover at all.
The beams are there because they're part of the design, and every detail can be created with that particular space in mind.
What if you've already got an RSJ?
This is something we come across quite often.
You may have opened up two rooms and been left with a steel across the ceiling. Or you might already have an RSJ that's been boxed in and never really looked right in the room.
One option is to stop trying to hide it and make it look like a wooden beam instead.
We can create the new beam around the existing RSJ or structural steel. Because we're working onsite, we don't have to find a ready-made cover that happens to be the right size.
We start with what's already there, then work out the size and proportions of the beam from the room itself.
What started as something purely structural can then become part of the design.
Can you match beams that are already there?
Yes, and this is something we particularly enjoy doing.
If a property already has old timber, putting a very new-looking beam next to it can make the difference obvious.
We look closely at what's already there. The colour, grain, splits, knots, marks and the way the timber has aged all give us something to work from.
We're not trying to make an exact copy. Real timber doesn't repeat itself.
We just want the new beams to look like they belong there.
So what should you choose?
There isn't one answer that works for every house.
If you want real timber, love the natural material and it suits the project, then real or reclaimed wood may be exactly what you want.
If you find a ready-made faux beam in a size, profile and finish that works for the room, that can be a straightforward option.
If you want genuine wood without using a large solid beam, a timber box beam is another possibility.
Hand-sculpted beams offer something different. They give you much more freedom over the size, shape, detail and finish, without being restricted by a piece of timber or a manufactured mould. They can solve practical problems, such as working around an RSJ, but they can just as easily be chosen simply because that's the look and finish you want for the room.
Not sure what would work?
Send us a couple of photos of the room and some rough measurements.
You don't need to have the whole thing planned out. We can have a look at the space, talk through what you're thinking and tell you what's possible.